This year’s theme for Open Access Week is “Open in Order to…”
No, that’s not a typo. Instead of filling in the blanks and telling you what Open facilitates, we’re interested in hearing about all the ways that Open makes things possible. Does Open increase impact? Ensure equity? Change the world?
We want to challenge you to demonstrate all the ways that Open is making a difference. This OA Week, let’s focus on engagement and actions that demonstrate the tangible, practical things that Open accomplishes. There are many forms this could take, including (but certainly not limited to) do-a-thons or social media campaigns.
What are these things anyway? Glad you asked.
A do-a-thon is an event that’s focused on a specific task – organizing a group or community to take action, whether that’s doing or creating something. Think hack-a-thon, but more inclusive. No need to focus on technology here – glue, paper, and whiteboards will do. Do-a-thons can be as small or large as you want them to be, so long as they keep in the spirit of getting stuff done.
Social media campaigns are a little different. They consist of sharing deliberate messaging across a social media outlet (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) for a sustained period of time. Benefits of social media campaigns include raising awareness, increasing engagement, and maybe getting a few new followers.
Does the prospect of a do-a-thon, social media campaign, or organizing anything for OA Week fill you with a deep seated terror? Or even a low lying anxiety?
Never fear, the Open Action Kit is here! We’ve compiled a bunch of resources and tools to help everyone from novices to veterans. This project is here to help you get inspired, connect with each other, make a plan, run a successful action, and tell the story of your success. Sound good? We thought so too!
The toolkit will include monthly communications and resources that address some of the following themes:
- Exploring and choosing your action
- Crafting your message and inspiring engagement
- Getting to the finish line and connecting with other OA champions
- Telling the story of your efforts and successes
We recognize that actions and resources are going to look different to everyone. This is why our resources will speak to ideas and goals across the spectrum of experience, whether you’re a New Natalia, Amped Up Amal, Growing Gene, or Connected Cate. We’ve got a little something for everyone, so don’t you worry.
We’ve posted our first set of resources! Take a look to get those creative juices flowing and explore ways you can mobilize action and maximize engagement on your campus.
Let us know if you have any questions, comments, suggested resources, stories, good jokes, etc. We wanna hear about all the cool stuff we know you’ve been up to (either currently or previously), so shrug off that modesty and hype yo self! Share your comments, questions, and stories of success with us by filling out this form.
The Open Action Kit is supported by 
Except where otherwise noted, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.